With a low cost of living, gorgeous views, and amazing healthcare, Salt Lake City remains high on the quality of life index. In fact, Salt Lake City is regularly cited as being one of the best places to live in America, whether you’re a young professional looking for a competitive business space or a new family looking for a place to set up roots.
However, Salt Lake City is not perfect: despite having one of the best healthcare systems in the country, Salt Lake is also home to some common diseases that make their way around the city every year. From the common cold and the norovirus, to STDs and COVID-19, the city tries its best to contain most of these illnesses as best they could, but they do crop up from time to time. Setting aside more common ailments like Altitude Sickness (a common sickness for newcomers and tourists to the city), here are some illnesses you might experience in Salt Lake City:
Seasonal Allergies
Hay fever and seasonal pollen allergies are one of the most common sicknesses that residents of Salt Lake can experience. These allergies can manifest in various forms, with coughs, runny noses, and mild fevers being the most common.
Of course, some symptoms should not be ignored: thyroid symptoms sometimes get ignored or misdiagnosed as being simple allergies when, in fact, it was something far more serious. If you have seasonal allergies that persist for days at a time, see a medical health professional immediately.
While this might not have been something to worry about back in the day, the Coronavirus pandemic should make all of us wary.
Sexually-Transmitted Diseases (STD)
Unfortunately, two of Salt Lake City’s most common diseases are Chlamydia and Gonorrhea, two highly infectious sexually transmitted diseases, or STDs. These diseases are most common in youth groups aged 15-17 years old.
It is an unsettling reality that we at Salt Lake City must face, and while these STDs are easily treatable, it is a symptom of a much bigger problem, namely, a lack of education regarding STDs. The city’s health department has repeatedly called on schools, churches, and parents to provide accurate, realistic, and comprehensible education regarding STDs so that our youth can avoid it in the first place.
COVID-19
Despite our state’s best efforts, the COVID-19 pandemic managed to get a foothold in Salt Lake City, causing a whopping 76,220 cases within the past year alone. Thankfully, the death rate has been lower compared to other cities. While cases are still being reported every day, the past few months have seen a plateauing in Salt Lake City’s active cases, thanks to mandatory mask-wearing and other health and safety protocols.
With all that said, COVID-19 is one of the most viral diseases the modern world has seen in over a century. Viral transmission of this novel disease is really unprecedented. While laboratories worldwide are developing vaccines, the most effective ways to avoid contracting COVID-19 remain social distancing, proper hygiene, and voluntary quarantines.
